Short abstract:

Great upheavals require a reimagining of past, present and future. Re-writings of the past that legitimise the new/old order contain narratives of the future thus providing for hope. Papers may explore the production, revision, or loss and destruction of hope through narratives of the future.

Long abstract:

Great upheavals and crisis always require a reimagining of past, present and future. This becomes visible in re-writings of the past that serve to (re)legitimise the new or old order in the present. Such re-writings that serve political purposes contain narratives of the future, which provide for hope. For example, governments may create narratives of the nation that support their rule by giving hopes for 'better' lives to their subjects.
This workshop will explore how groups, institutions, political parties, governments or states create futures in order to deal with upheavals or crises. It will consider the present-day purposes of these futures. It may also consider the social and political impact of lost hopes and despair. Following Appadurai's argument that modern-day democracy is linked to hope, the workshop invites in particular papers, which explore questions of producing, re-creating, or loosing and destructing hope through narratives of the future within democratic nation-states, whatever democratic may mean.